Twins acquire Sonny Gray and Francis Peguero from Cincinnati in exchange for Chase Petty
FORT MYERS, FL – The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have acquired right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray and minor league right-handed pitcher Francis Peguero from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Chase Petty.
Gray, 32, started 26 games for the Reds last season, going 7-9 with a 4.19 ERA (135.1 IP, 63 ER) with 50 walks, 155 strikeouts, a .225 (115-for-512) opponent batting average and a 1.22 WHIP. The two-time All-Star (2015, ’19) has appeared in 223 career major league games (214 starts) for the Oakland Athletics (2013-17), New York Yankees (2017-18) and Reds (2019-21), going 82-72 with a 3.61 ERA (1267.1 IP, 508 ER) with six complete games (including 4 shutouts), 453 walks, 1221 strikeouts, a .231 (1,093-for-4,740) opponent batting average and a 1.22 WHIP.
The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Gray ranks tied for eighth in starts (204) among right-handed pitchers since 2014, 11th in innings pitched (1203.1) and opponent batting average (.231), and 12th in strikeouts (1,154). Over the last three seasons, Gray has gone 23-20 with a 3.49 ERA (366.2 IP, 142 ER), 144 walks and 432 strikeouts – ranking 10th in the National League in strikeouts and tied for 14th in wins in that span. He was the 2019 recipient of the Johnny Vander Meer Award as Reds’ Most Outstanding Pitcher, finished second in voting for the MLBPA’s NL Comeback Player of the Year Award (behind Josh Donaldson) and seventh in the NL Cy Young Award voting. The Smyrna, Tennessee native was originally selected by Oakland in the first round (18th overall) of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt University.
Peguero, 24, was signed by the Reds as an international free agent on July 4, 2017 out of San Pedro De Macorís, Dominican Republic and has gone 2-6 with a 4.72 ERA (103.0 IP, 54 ER), 21 walks, 116 strikeouts, a 1.27 WHIP and .268 opponent batting average in 74 career minor league relief appearances, all in the Cincinnati system. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound right-hander spent the entire 2021 season with High-A Dayton, going 1-1 with a 4.96 ERA (32.2 IP, 18 ER), seven walks, 36 strikeouts, a 1.22 WHIP and a .258 opponent batting average in 28 appearances.
Petty, 18, was selected by the Twins in the first round (26th overall) of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of Mainland Regional High School in Linwood, New Jersey. He appeared in two games (1 start) for the Florida Complex League Twins last season, allowing three runs on six hits in 5.0 innings pitched, with one walk and six strikeouts.